MADRID: Real Madrid are set to add a champion from another sporting arena to their boardroom, with 22-times tennis Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal’s appointment as a director to be put to members for ratification, the club said on Wednesday.
The board agreed at its November 4 meeting to submit the appointment to the General Assembly of Delegated Members. Nadal is already an honorary member of the club.
“It is a source of immense pride for Real Madrid and for all our supporters that a figure of his sporting and personal stature … is to join our Board of Directors,” Real said in a statement.
The club highlighted Nadal’s sporting achievements, including 92 tour singles titles, two Olympic gold medals, five Davis Cup triumphs with Spain and the world number one ranking.
Real said his qualities beyond those honours — including humility, respect for opponents and commitment to charity — also reflected the club’s identity.
“All these values form part of Real Madrid’s identity, and Rafael Nadal has embodied and championed them throughout his sporting career,” the statement said.
Nadal welcomed the invitation.
“I would like to thank President Florentino Perez and the Board for inviting me to join the Board of Directors of Real Madrid,” he wrote on social media.
“I have accepted this invitation with great enthusiasm, keen to learn and to contribute as much as I can.”
Nadal, who retired from tennis in November 2024, has long been touted as a potential successor to Real president Florentino Perez, although he has played down the prospect.
Perez, 79, secured another four-year term in June after Real’s first contested presidential election in two decades.
More than a third of voting members backed challenger Enrique Riquelme, who opposed plans to bring outside investment into the member-owned club.